Genesis 32-33

GOD’S WORD Translation

Jacob Sends Messages and Gifts to Esau

32 ^[a]As Jacob went on his way, God’s angels met him. ² When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp!” He named that place Mahanaim [Two Camps].

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them to give this message to Esau, “Sir, this is what Jacob has to say, ‘I’ve been living with Laban and have stayed until now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I’ve sent ⌞these messengers⌟ to tell you ⌞this news⌟ in order to win your favor.’ ”

⁶ When the messengers came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you with 400 men.”

⁷ Jacob was terrified and distressed. So he divided the people, the sheep and goats, the cattle, and the camels into two camps. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau attacks the one camp, then the other camp will be able to escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac! Lord, you said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your relatives, and I will make you prosperous.’ ¹⁰ I’m not worthy of all the love and faithfulness you have shown me. I only had a shepherd’s staff when I crossed the Jordan River, but now I have two camps. ¹¹ Please save me from my brother Esau, because I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid that he’ll come and attack me and the mothers and children too. ¹² But you did say, ‘I will make sure that you are prosperous and that your descendants will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to count them because there are so many.’ ”

¹³ He stayed there that night. Then he prepared a gift for his brother Esau from what he had brought with him: ¹⁴ 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep, ¹⁵ 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.

¹⁶ He placed servants in charge of each herd. Then he said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep a distance between the herds.” ¹⁷ He commanded the first servant, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and whose animals are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸ then say, ‘Sir, they belong to your servant Jacob. This is a gift sent to you. Jacob is right behind us.’ ” ¹⁹ He also commanded the second servant, the third, and all the others who followed the herds. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. ²⁰ And be sure to add, ‘Jacob is right behind us, sir.’ ” He thought, “I’ll make peace with him by giving him this gift that I’m sending ahead of me. After that I will see him, and he’ll welcome me back.” ²¹ So Jacob sent the gift ahead of him while he stayed in the camp that night.

Jacob’s Fourth Encounter with God—He Wrestles with God

²² During that night he got up and gathered his two wives, his two slaves and his eleven children and crossed at the shallow part of the Jabbok River. ²³ After he sent them across the stream, he sent everything else across. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until dawn. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that it was dislocated as they wrestled. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go; it’s almost dawn.”

But Jacob answered, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”

²⁷ So the man asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel [He Struggles With God], because you have struggled with God and with men—and you have won.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

The man answered, “Why do you ask for my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there. ³⁰ So Jacob named that place Peniel [Face of God], because he said, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” ³¹ The sun rose as he passed Penuel.^[b] He was limping because of his hip. ³² (Therefore, even today the people of Israel do not eat the muscle of the thigh attached to the hip socket because God touched the socket of Jacob’s hip at the muscle of the thigh.)

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slaves. ² He put the slaves and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ He went on ahead of them and bowed seven times with his face touching the ground as he came near his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet Jacob. Esau hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. They both cried. ⁵ When he saw the women and children, Esau asked, “Who are these people here with you?”

“The children God has graciously given me, sir,” Jacob answered.

⁶ Then the slaves and their children came forward and bowed down. ⁷ Likewise, Leah and her children came forward and bowed down. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau asked, “Why did you send this whole group ⌞of people and animals⌟ I met?”

He answered, “To win your favor, sir.”

⁹ Esau said, “I have enough. Keep what you have, Brother.”

¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please take the gift I’m giving you, because I’ve seen your face as if I were seeing the face of God, and yet you welcomed me so warmly. ¹¹ Please take the present I’ve brought you, because God has been gracious to me and has given me all that I need.” So Esau took it because Jacob insisted.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let’s get ready to go, and I’ll go with you.”

¹³ Jacob said to him, “Sir, you know that the children are frail and that I have to take care of the flocks and cattle that are nursing their young. If they’re driven too hard for even one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Go ahead of me, sir. I will slowly and gently guide the herds that are in front of me at their pace and at the children’s pace until I come to you in Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“Why do that?” Jacob asked. “I only want to win your favor, sir.”

¹⁶ That day Esau started back to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob moved on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is named Succoth [Shelters].

¹⁸ So having come from Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in Canaan. He camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ Then he bought the piece of land on which he had put up his tents. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. ²⁰ He set up an altar there and named it God Is the God of Israel.